1. Field of the Invention
The invention pertains to the field of spring blade tensioners. More particularly, the invention pertains to a series spring blade tensioner.
2. Description of Related Art
A conventional blade spring tensioner may develop adequate force to control the new chain condition but lack sufficient force to control the worn chain condition. In order to develop sufficient tensioning load in a compact package, conventional tensioners may have a high system spring rate. A system with a high spring rate is highly sensitive to deflection. Consequently, the applied tensioning load may decrease too rapidly with a high system spring rate as the blade assembly deflects to take up chain slack. One solution is to increase the tensioning load for a new chain such that a minimum acceptable load is achieved when the chain is in the worn chain condition. This approach is undesirable since high tensioning loads for a new chain cause greater frictional losses, increased chain engagement noise and higher blade shoe and chain wear.